''Gomphotaria'' is a genus of very large shellfish-eating dusignathine walrus found along the coast of what is now California, during the late Miocene.

Description

It was a huge-sized pinniped with skull length of around , surpassing only by '' Pontolis'', which had a skull of long. ''Gomphotaria'' had comparatively small eyes, increased upper and lower canines and four tusks, with one pair in the lower and upper jaws. According to wear on the tusks, ''G. pugnax'' hammered shellfish open, rather than simply sucking them out of their shells as do modern walruses. In terms of the postcranial skeleton, ''Gomphotaria'' and other dusignathine walruses were built more like sea lions than modern walrus. ''Gomphotaria'' is a prime example of the extreme diversity that walruses once exhibited.

References

Miocene pinnipeds Prehistoric carnivoran genera Prehistoric pinnipeds of North America Odobenids {{paleo-carnivora-stub